51 Worldwide Games (Nintendo Switch) Preview

The original 42 All Time Classics was marketed as a cost-effective and budget priced title that packed in an enormous amount of card and board games. There were also a few other "variety games," such as bowling, darts, and billiards that also found their way into the compilation. In follow up fashion, 51 Worldwide Games outshines its predecessor in every way, from its presentation, variety, and style of play, the latter being very indicative of many Nintendo Switch titles.

The menu and presentation in the original were somewhat bland and unappealing, looking very tacked together, and game titles being squished into tiny subject boxes. It was a very quiet affair, as there was no music available, which gave a soulless feel to a Nintendo published title, not something that is seen very often, if at all. Fast forward to the sequel, and this has been improved upon greatly, and feels very much in the ilk of what the casual Nintendo games from the Wii-era onwards have presented, with easy menu navigation, background music, and novel ways to play multiplayer, especially on the console itself in handheld mode.

Presentation improvements aside, the games themselves are very easy to hop in and out of, which makes swapping between them a doddle. Each one has an opening video tutorial which illustrates the basics through narrated, recorded gameplay. There are further hints and instructions in a side menu if more information is required, which also includes the option to change the CPU difficulty on most of them. The large selection of titles means that there is something for everybody, from classics such as Dominos, Solitaire, Checkers, and Chess, to a more modern feel from a returning copy of Wii Sports' Bowling mode, and some familiar, but upgraded, games from Wii Play such as the Shooting Gallery, Tanks, and Air Hockey.

When it comes to the controls, they vary from title to title, and some can utilise the motion controls in the Joy-con, whereas others are touch based titles, and others use button inputs. There is even a novel, Mosaic Mode, where users can put their Nintendo Switch's side by side to create a larger screen to play certain games which is something that can also be done in Super Mario Party.